Gender-Based Violence & Contraception Access

Allied organizations and individuals making up the Access Now Nova Scotia coalition campaigning for free contraception access are underlining the connection between intimate partner, gender-based violence (GBV) and contraception access.

Intimate partner violence (IPV) is a form of gender-based violence and is an epidemic in Nova Scotia. Women in Canada who face intimate-partner violence are two times as likely to experience an unintended pregnancy, with 1 in 4 Canadian women self-reporting not being able to freely make their own reproductive choices.

Reproductive coercion is a form of GBV, occurring most often in intimate relationships. The Canadian Women’s Foundation defines reproductive coercion as “any time someone pressures or controls another person’s reproductive decisions or takes steps that make it harder for that person to freely exercise their reproductive choice(s)”. People with uteruses are most often the victims/survivors of reproductive coercion. Control over exercising one’s reproductive rights closely intersects with the gendered burden of contraception costs.

Access Now NS calls on the government of Nova Scotia to make contraception free to all Nova Scotians as quickly as possible as a measure to address and prevent intimate partner, gender-based violence.

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Access Now Nova Scotia is a coalition from different sectors across the province who lobby for barrier-free access to contraception. Our goal is no-cost, accessible prescription contraception for all Nova Scotians regardless of physical location, race, gender, income, education, or physical ability. 

Contact: 

Natasha Hines (she/her), Founding Member of Access Now NS and Chair of Wellness Within, (902)717-2956 or natasha_hines@outlook.com,

or

Katie Rennie (she/they), Co-Chair of Access Now NS and Project Assistant at THANS, katierennie.hfx@gmail.com